Update 2: Democrat James C. Fields Jr. wins House District 12 special election

CULLMAN -- Democrat James C. Fields Jr. today handily won election in Cullman County to fill the vacant District 12 seat in the Alabama House of Representatives.

Fields had 3,693 votes, or 59.3 percent, and Republican Wayne Willingham had 2,505 votes, or 40.3 percent, with 37 boxes of 38 boxes counted. The uncounted box includes provisional ballots which are usually counted only in contested outcomes.

Fields becomes the first black to represent the mostly white House district. Republicans had tried had to wrest control of the seat long held by Democrats.

The District 12 seat became vacant when Neal Morrison, a Democrat, resigned last year to become interim president of Bevill State Community College.

Storms that blew into Cullman about 8:45 p.m. knocked out power to the Cullman Civic Center where the votes were being counted. The count resumed shortly after power was restored about 10 p.m. It finished about 10:30 p.m.

"I'm feeling great," Fields said when the early vote count indicated he was leading handily.